Kazé is a French publishing company that specializes in anime and manga. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in the 9th arrondissement of Paris,"Mentions Légales ." Kazé. Retrieved on June 6, 2017. "le siège social est situé: 14 Bd Haussmann 75009 Paris France. " Kazé specializes in the distribution of Japanese anime and manga for the European market.
Kazé was first acquired by Viz Media Europe in 2009, then by WarnerMedia (today known as Warner Bros. Discovery) via Otter Media, which was then followed by Sony via Crunchyroll EMEA, and currently though HarperCollins after it acquired Crunchyroll's French and German manga publishing operations, which included Kazé in September 2025. HarperCollins would later relaunch the company into its current form in April 2026.
History Kazé was first founded in 1994 and debuted by publishing Record of Lodoss War on VHS.
In 2005, Kazé launched its music label, Wasabi Records, specializing in J-Pop. In the last few years, the company has diversified its activities by publishing Japanese animated feature films, such as Appleseed, Origin: Spirits of the Past and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. In 2007, Kazé released Shinobi, its first live-action film, to theaters in France, and in July 2009, Kazé launched its own television channel, KZTV (Kazé TV), devoted to anime. Around the same time, Kazé experimented with online streaming with the launch of its anime streaming service, KZPlay in October 2009, which would later merge with another streaming service, Genzai, to form a new anime streaming service known as Anime Digital Network (today known as Animation Digital Network) in 2013.
On August 28, 2009, Kazé announced its acquisition by Viz Media Europe, a subsidiary of Shogakukan and Shueisha.
Kaze changed its name to Kazé in 2010, in hopes that the addition of an accent would allow for a better pronunciation of its name. It published numerous series of Japanese animations in French and became one of the largest independent publishers of video and manga in Europe.
Before the purchase, the company's manga was published under the Asuka imprint. Since January 2010, only yaoi titles have been released under the Asuka imprint; the majority of titles were moved to the company's new Kazé imprint, including later volumes of non-yaoi series started under the Asuka imprint. Asuka's current licenses include a broad spectrum of manga: popular shōnen and shōjo series such as After School Nightmare, more mature seinen and josei titles such as Bokurano, and classic manga such as Black Jack and works by Osamu Tezuka. They also publish several yaoi and yuri titles, including a French edition of Be x Boy magazine.
The company also published in Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Russia & Poland.
In May 2012, Cédric Littardi, the founder and long-time head of the company, announced his departure.
Kazé and Média-Participations (via its Dargaud and Citel, and Kana subsidiaries) launched Anime Digital Network in October 2013, a French anime streaming service which formed from a merger between two previous anime streaming platforms Genzai and KZPlay. During the Sony ownership in July 2022, Kazé relinquished its ownership of ADN, leaving Média-Participations as the full owner. Anime Digital Network changed its name to Animation Digital Network following Kazé's departure from ADN.
On June 1, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that Kazé and its labels will be rebranded as Crunchyroll. The rebranding became effective on October 1, 2022.
On July 16, 2025, HarperCollins announced that it has acquired the French and German Crunchyroll manga publishing business (including Kazé), with the acquisition being closed on September 30, 2025.
On December 10, 2025, HarperCollins announced that the Kazé label would be brought back for new licenses from April 2026.
Italian dubs In 2012, the French company has received criticism from Italy regarding the publication of Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (series OVA), Mardock Scramble: the First Compression, and Children Who Chase Lost Voices. Instead of giving the job to an Italian dubbing studio, as with previous releases, Kazé opted for a French dubbing studio named Wantake, which used amateur voice actors of Italian-French nationality. The resulting performance was regarded as poor. Criticism was also directed towards the menu systems on the DVDs, which featured inaccurate translations. On Amazon.com, titles have received numerous negative reviews owing to these perceived failings, and the company was flooded with negative comments via Twitter and Facebook.
Anime published
Anime published in France
Appleseed XIII Bleach Yo-kai Watch
Anime published in UK
Bakuman (Sub-only release) Berserk: The Golden Age Arc Black Lagoon Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail Bleach (Seasons 9-16, Movies 3 and 4) Code Geass (Both seasons) Future Diary JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Season 1 only) Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic Mardock Scramble Mawaru Panguindrum Nisekoi Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan One-Punch Man Persona 4: The Animation Princess Jellyfish Tiger & Bunny Trigun: Badlands Rumble Un-Go World Conquest Zvezda Plot
Anime published in Germany
Attack on Titan Cat's Eye Fairy Tail Inuyasha Phantom Thief Jeanne Sailor Moon Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist Yo-kai Watch
Anime published in Spain
Black Lagoon
Anime published in Italy
Hellsing Ultimate
Manga
Black Rose Alice Initial D The Promised Neverland
Kazé Anime Nights
Kazé Anime Nights is a cinema event, where Kazé screens anime films and sometimes Asian films across Germany and Austria for one day or multiple days.
Films of Kazé Anime Nights and Asia Nights 2018 TitleRelease dateTokyo GhoulFebruary 2, 2018Tokyo GhoulFebruary 27, 2018The Virgin PsychicsMarch 2, 2018Detective Conan: The Crimson Love LetterMarch 27, 2018100 Yen LoveApril 6, 2018Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix PriestessApril 24, 2018Death Note: Light Up the New WorldMay 4, 2018Detective Conan Episode One May 29, 2018Persona Non GrataJune 1, 2018Attack on Titan Movie Part 3June 26, 2018A DayJuly 6, 2018Fairy Tail: Dragon CryJuly 31, 2018Corpse PartyAugust 3, 2018Black Butler: Book of the AtlanticAugust 28, 2018Lu over the WallSeptember 25, 2018The Night Is Short, Walk On GirlOctober 30, 2018
Films of Kazé Anime Nights 2019 TitleRelease dateDragon Ball Super: BrolyJanuary 29, 2019Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Take on MeFebruary 26, 2019My Hero Academia: Two HeroesMarch 26, 2019The adventures of young SinbadApril 30, 2019MiraiMay 28, 2019Detective Conan: Zero the EnforcerJune 25, 2019Dragon Ball Super: BrolyJuly 30, 2019Okko's InnAugust 27, 2019Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The MovieAugust 27, 2019One Piece: StampedeSeptember 24, 2019Penguin HighwayOctober 29, 2019
References